Scott Wykoff's Blog

Monday, January 25, 2010

Bears And Fairs

Just up the road from Baltimore in Hershey this past weekend "The Sweetest Place On Earth" was all about "Bears" and "Fairs".

It turned out to be a sweet combination for the only town I know of that has street lights made out of big Hershey Kisses!

Bears as in the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League. Fairs as in those who attended the 98th Annual Pennsylvania State Association of County Fairs Convention. Including the 60-plus contestants in the 24th Annual Pennsylvania Fair Queen Coronation. Sing it ladies.

A record crowd of more than 10,000 packed Giant Center to see the Hershey Bears beat the Manitoba Moose on Saturday night while hundreds packed the Hershey Lodge and Convention Center that same day to mix with exhibitors and to see a fair queen crowned. A dream weekend of sorts for passionate hockey fans and county fair organizers and pageant participants alike.

A true slice of Americana just an hour and a half away from Baltimore in a picturesque little town known as Chocolate Town USA.

Bears

A trip to Hershey for a Bears game is a true experience. Since 1938, Hershey has been home to this American Hockey League team that has won a record 10 Calder Cup Championships (the AHL's equivalent to the NHL's Stanley Cup). Playing for the "farm" team for the Washington Capitals, players cut their professional hockey in Hershey before they make a name for themselves in the NHL. Coaches too. Caps Coach Bruce Boudreau was the coach in Hershey when he was hired to coach the Caps. The rest is history, something that the Hershey Bears have plenty of.

The Bears hockey team and Giant Center arena are owned by Hershey Entertainment and Resorts Company. It's a part of the Hershey Company that has been making candy in the Pennsylvania town since early 1900. The Bears are a "minor league" organization that is run better than most "major league" teams. Just ask the 10,000 fans that the team averages for each of its 40 games. And because it's part of the Hershey family the whole Bears hockey experience is about good clean family fun. All in a town that oozes the best that Small Town, America has to offer.

Fans in Hershey have a passion for their Bears that most teams in the NFL, NHL, NBA and MLB would envy. Some fans even make a weekend out of a simple Hershey Bears game booking a room at the Hershey Lodge and Convention Center. Don't forget the ultimate pre-game meal for any Hershey Bears fan at the Bears Den family sports bar at the hotel that is also owned and operated by the chocolate maker. It's home to the biggest video screen between Baltimore and Philadelphia! This spot is a hockey fans dream.

Full disclosure time. I first experienced this Hershey Bears thing as a young play-by-play announcer in the AHL with the Maine Mariners in the mid-to-late 80s. Our two trips to Hershey each season, without a doubt, were some of the most memorable of my broadcasting career. Back then the Bears played in the historic Hersheypark Arena (before making the move across Hershey Park to the Giant Center). There was nothing like making a trip to Hershey on a Saturday night to call a game. Trivia time. Hersheypark Arena also hosted Wilt Chamberlain's record setting 100-point game.

BTW, the team was called the Hershey B'ars for a brief time before the head honchos of the AHL decided the B'ars moniker was too commercial. That's how the Bears were born.

The highlight of the weekend gathering is the Annual Pennsylvania Fair Queen Coronation on Saturday night in the hotel's grand ballroom! Now that's a slice of Americana! Look and see who I met in the hallway.

This convention is a time for county fair organizers, operators and vendors to get together and , "to promote the growth and improvement of Agricultural Fairs, Associations and Socities within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; To educate and to provide for the exchange of information among members; To educate and to provide for the exchange of information between the membership, the general public, and agencies for the betterment of the Fairs and/or Fair Industry."

Where else can you find exhibitors flaunting the latest corn dog making technology, the next best balloon animal making clown in the country and the nation's top fair and carnival ride operators?

Simply said, it's a weekend get together that's all about what's good about county fairs.

It's also a weekend about spirited competition for the more than 60 young ladies competing in the annual pageant that crowns the state's Fair Queen. The energy, from both the contestants and their families, is amazing. Nice people who almost always have a smile their face and a good word for all. It's hard to ask for a better group of conventioneers to share a hotel with for the weekend.

Congratulations to 17-year-old Casey Hall who was crowned 2010 Pennsylvania State Fair Queen this past weekend in Hershey. The Canton High School Senior from Roaring Branch, Pa. (north of Mountoursville) qualified to compete in Hershey after she was crowned the Troy Fair Queen last summer in Bradford County. She plans to attend Penn State next year to major in bioengineering.

Pennsylvania is home to 115 county and community fairs stretching from April until October. The fair queen travels the state representing Pennsylvania’s rich agricultural heritage and serving as an ambassador for the fair association.

Forget about the Bears game at the nearby Giant Center on Hersheypark Drive, people watching in the lobby of the Hershey Lodge and Convention Center during the fair convention is just as fun. These are really nice people who are just plain fun to be around.

Hershey

There's nothing quite like the town of Hershey, Pennsylvania. The quaint model "industrial town" founded and developed by chocolate making king Milton Hershey is one of a kind. And I haven't even mentioned yet the Chocolate World Tour, the Hershey Story Museum and the Antique Auto Museum of Hershey, one of the best auto museums this side of Michigan! Yeah, I know, Hershey Park is a one-of-a-kind amusement park. WBAL's zoo expert Bill Vanko says Hershey's ZooAmerica is a gem. How about the magnificent Hershey Theatre that presents the finest in touring Broadways shows. Not to forget The Spa At The Hotel Hershey that provides the ultimate in chocolate indulgence. So much to do!

CLICK HERE to learn more about the the history the magical town of Hershey